Stay Hungry Stay Foolish
by Thedarkknight17
Summary: Bruce mulls over his decision to remain Gotham's Dark Knight, and is now determined to find out what he is really looking for after the Joker's madness turned Gotham and his world upside down.


**Stay Hungry... Stay Foolish**

**By:Thedarkknight17**

**Disclaimer:**

I own nothing of Batman, from the first comic to the latest movie, they are entirely someone else's creations.

**Summary:**

Bruce mulls over his decision to remain Gotham's Dark Knight, and is determined to find out what he is really looking for after the Joker turned Gotham and his world upside down.

**Author's Notes:**

This is going to be my next fict :) It was written to stand on its own just as well, but I decided it is time to write another on and I really wanted to use this story as an opening chapter. Enjoy!

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**Stay Hungry… Stay Foolish**

Their sounds echoed off of the walls. Tiny wings fluttering in the dark. Bruce sat with his eyes closed in meditation, savoring the sound. Their screeches, their tiny voices, filled his ears and he smiled. They called to him, the fear was gone, they were friends now, allies. With them around, he would never truly be alone. It was when he returned to the light, to the surface. That was when he was truly alone. He sighed, trying to refocus himself. After all, meditation was the practice of self awareness, but tonight it seemed more difficult then it usually was. It was the memories. The past always had a way of distracting him, of pulling him away from reality, from the here and now.

The water fall seemed louder. The crashing sound penetrated his thoughts, breaking through his attempts to find his own coveted inner peace. Crashing… like glass. He thought back…back to before the mansion had been fully rebuilt. Back to the night he had jumped from the window to save her, abandoning Bruce Wayne's guests to the mercy of the Joker, all for her. The windshield had shattered underneath their weight, his weight. He had taken the brunt of the fall for her, and her question to him… 'where is Harvey?' His heart had been crushed as easily as the glass had been that night. And he was still searching for the pieces, trying to pick them up. Trying to start again. Her face still haunted his dreams, and Alfred often found him in the late afternoon sun tossing and turning, drenched in sweat. The older man was worried sick, after all she had been dea… no… taken… almost seven months ago. It was time to move on, so why was it so hard for him to let go. Time… it was such a precise thing. It was time that had taken her away. If he had pushed the maniac harder, slammed him around instead of listening to him babble on about fear… about people… about him. He should have shoved him harder, he should have let the glass shatter… let the shards disappear into the green greasy mop and watch as the strands took on a sticky red hue. But it wouldn't have mattered… he would have still been wrong.

"250 52nd street…" He whispered unfolding his legs and bringing his knees into his chest, he hugged them tightly. The ground was cool underneath him, and his shoulders eased back, finding the rough cave wall to lean on. He had been wrong. His eyes were dark, sleepless nights and a heavy guilt ridden heart had steeled the hazel orbs. He was tired… so tired.

But when it all was too much, when it seemed he would simply be crushed under the responsibility, the weight of the cowl, he thought of that little boy, Gordon's boy. The shot had hurt enough to leave him breathless, but seeing the cold unfeeling steel barrel of a gun placed against that innocent head had given him courage. Call it what you will, reckless… wild… foolish even. But that was what Batman was, it was what he needed to be… 'stay hungry, stay foolish.' He heard little Jim calling to him as he ran, but he didn't dare look back. He didn't want to, looking back hurt… it stung with the barbs of past experiences… it bred nothing but pain and hurt inside of him. Yes… he was sure looking back hurt, he knew it all to well. The first time on patrol after that night… when he heard the sirens, he knew he couldn't look back. Things had changed… the past was a dangerous place for him to dwell now. Nothing was the same, yet everything still was. His world, though broken still existed… he was still needed.

Bruce Wayne stood up, pulling on his cowl, Batman's cowl. It was dark now, but he left it that way… He liked it that way.

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A New Chapter will be posted shortly!


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